VideoRay choice for headquarters is a plus for Pottstown

Sunday, February 24, 2013

VideoRay LLC is a global leader in the manufacture of speciality high-tech underwater cameras.

To Pottstown, VideoRay is the latest poster child for downtown development.

The firm, which began its move to downtown a year ago, bought and renovated the Levitz building at 212 High St. and employs a work force of 40 people and growing in 32,000 square feet of space, a worldwide headquarters in the heart of Pottstown.

VideoRay Vice President Chris Gibson said there are plenty of reasons why the move was a success for the firm.

He credited the borough and Pottstown Area Industrial Development with streamlining the process of redesigning and renovating space and acquiring parking for the firm to expand from its former office at a rural site in East Pikeland.

In turn, PAID Executive Director Steve Bamford credits VideoRay with a willingness to help recruit other businesses to follow.

“They are always more than happy to allow me to bring people into their facility,” said Bamford. “Not a week goes by that I don’t share the VideoRay story and it gets a favorable reaction. They could locate anywhere, and they chose our community.”

A tour of VideoRay showcases that conscious decision to choose Pottstown. The former Levitz furniture store has been restored with an attention to detail, pulling out brick walls that show the building was actually several joined together, uncovering hardwood floors and tiled ceilings of former retail showrooms, and building an interior office structure that recreates the 1920s style of the building’s pre-furniture store days.

In the assembly area, high-tech employees work alongside seasoned workers, some of them retirees from Pottstown’s former industries, illustrating the work ethic and training of local labor.

Pottstown seems like an unlikely choice for a firm where everyone from executives to sales reps are trained divers and where the product line is exclusive to marine or deep water uses.

Most companies like theirs are in Florida or California, Gibson acknowledged. But company founder Scott Bentley grew up in southeastern Pennsylvania, and this is where they want to stay, Gibson said.

In moving from a restored farmhouse in East Pikeland, Chester County, Gibson admitted many of their employees were not familiar with Pottstown and were a little apprehensive about going from country to town. But the experience has been a good one, he added. Employees like having restaurants within walking distance, and the firm is exploring partnerships with the Montgomery County Community College to provide classes to employees, a benefit made possible by the college’s downtown proximity.

In a town that can suffer from a failure to believe in itself, this firm’s enthusiasm is refreshing. Its assertive actions to put down roots and participate in the revitalization of the downtown is a bright spot in the business community, joining Main Line Financial and Affinity Property Management in the same block of High Street as businesses investing in Pottstown’s future.

VideoRay’s decision to come here clearly came with a commitment to make the most of that choice.

We applaud VideoRay for coming to Pottstown, and to PAID and borough hall for helping make their decision work. Well done.